Description:

Established in 2009 by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme aims at attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD programs in Hong Kong’s institutions.

Eligibility

Those who are seeking admission as new full time PhD students in UGC-funded institutions of Hong Kong, irrespective of their country of origin and ethnic background, should be eligible to apply. Applicants should demonstrate outstanding qualities of academic performance, research ability / potential, communication and interpersonal skills, and leadership abilities.

The Fellowship

The Fellowship provides a monthly stipend of HK$20,0001 and a conference travel allowance of HK$10,0001 per year for the awardees for a maximum period of three years. 135 PhD Fellowships will be awarded for the 2010/11 academic year2.

1US$1 = HK$7.8 (rate for reference only)

2Academic year in Hong Kong normally starts in September.

Review Panels

Applications, subject to their areas of studies, will be reviewed by two Selection Panels with experts in the broad areas, one for science, medicine, engineering and technology and another one for humanities, social science and business studies.

Selection Criteria

While the academic excellence is of prime consideration, the Review Panels will take into account, but is not limited to, the four yardsticks below for the selection of candidates:

1. Academic excellence;
2. Research ability and potential;
3. Communication, and interpersonal skills; and
4. Leadership abilities.

Application Process

The Scheme will call for application in early September 2009.

Each applicant may choose up to two programs in one or two institutions for PhD study when applying for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship. Application should be made through the Online Application System (OAS) which will be available in early September 2009. The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship application is also regarded as a formal application for admission to the PhD program(s) offered by the institution(s) concerned. Applicants are therefore required to fully comply with the admission requirements of their selected institutions and programs except the application deadline, which should strictly follow the stipulated deadline for the Fellowship scheme. Admission requirements of individual institutions are as follows:

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

(http://www.polyu.edu.hk/ro/hkphd-fellowship/)

In parallel to the Fellowship application, each application will be processed by the relevant institution(s) as a normal application for PhD admission. Individual institutions may conduct interview with applicants where necessary. Institutions may also admit candidates not selected for the Fellowship Scheme and offer them with postgraduate studentship of the institutions if they are considered to be qualified.

Postgraduate Studies in Hong Kong

For more information on postgraduate studies in Hong Kong, please visit the Joint Institutions homepage at http://www.grad.edu.hk/grad/.

Enquiries

For enquiries about the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, please address your questions to HKPF@ugc.edu.hk.

For enquiries about the PhD programmes and admission requirements, please contact the respective institutions directly. The contacts of each institution are as follows:

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Research Office,
Room M501, Li Ka Shing Tower,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Telephone number: (852) 3400 3635
Fax number: (852) 2355 7651
Email: roro@polyu.edu.hk

Interested candidates please contact Dr. Patrick S.W. Fong bspafong@polyu.edu.hk, Department of Building & Real Estate of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for discussions on possible topics/proposals in Knowledge Management.

The applicants are also expected to have strong background in Pattern Recognition and/or Image Processing. The applicants should have excellent programming skills and candidates with experience in biometrics related work can expect preference. The successful candidate(s) are expected to directly work with Dr. Ajay Kumar in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The scholarships offered are highly competitive (about 13,000 HK$ p.m.). The applications received before 30/06/2009 will be reviewed immediately.

Please send your detailed CV (including aggregate marks, courses undertaken, project undertaken) to Dr. Ajay Kumar, Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University via email at csajaykr[ at ]comp.polyu.edu.hk

The applicants who do not receive any response within four weeks of their application should consider their application as unsuccessful.

To promote an international environment in the University, we welcome students from different cultural backgrounds to pursue their research studies here. We now invite applications for six international scholarships that will be offered to full-time PhD applicants who are academically strong and who will bring cultural diversity to the University.

Eligibility for the International Postgraduate Scholarships
The applicant should preferably possess a first-class (honours) bachelor’s degree or equivalent (a GPA of 3.75 or above in the US system, or be within the top 10% of graduates in other systems) from a reputable university. Final-year students in bachelor’s degree programmes are also eligible to apply and, if successful, they will be given a conditional offer subject to their obtaining a first-class honours degree or equivalent. Applicants who have produced a number of high quality research output items during their postgraduate studies but are however holders of an upper second-class (honours) bachelor’s degree will also be considered.

Selection Criteria
Selection is based on the following criteria, with (i) being the overriding criterion, and documentary evidence on each must be provided by the applicant:

(i) substantial international exposure and the potential to contribute to the internationalization of the University; applicants who have not resided outside China for five or more years will not be considered;
(ii) records of academic achievements;
(iii) potential to excel in research degree studies;
(iv) letter(s) of reference.

If (ii) and (iii) are not obvious from the curriculum vitae (resumé) of the applicant, then a short statement addressing these criteria should be submitted.

Consideration will also be given to applicants whose research area is in line with the Faculty/School/Departmental research focus, and to those applicants having a proposed Chief Supervisor with substantial supervision experience.

Particulars of Scholarship
Each scholarship consists of a research studentship of between two and four years (depending on the academic qualifications and working experience of the student) comprising HK$12,800* per month, associated money of HK$20,000 per normal study year, and the waiving of the tuition fees for the normal period of study. The waiving of tuition fees for the normal period of study will, however, be subject to satisfactory progress made by the student, as confirmed by the Departmental Research Committee. Successful applicants are expected to commence their studies no later than August 2008.

* 1 US$ = 7.8 HK$ (The University reserves the right to adjust the studentship amount as and when deems appropriate.)

Conditions for obtaining a Study Visa
Successful applicants must have a valid study visa before they can begin studying in Hong Kong. The University will sponsor the applicants, but not their dependents, to apply for a study visa.

Application Procedures
Interested persons should first explore the opportunity with an appropriate department. An application must be made by the faculty member of the University under whose guidance the applicant intends to work (the Chief Supervisor designate), in the form of a research project proposal. Applicants may refer here for details on the major research areas currently being pursued in each academic department and the contact information of the Chair of each Departmental Research Committee. Applicants are required to fill in Form RC/IPS and to attach their certificates of academic attainments and other documents (addressing the selection criteria) with their applications. A non-refundable fee of HK$150 (or US$20) will be charged for each application.# The closing date for applications is 15 January 2008. Applicants may also contact the Research Office in Room M501, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Fax: (852) 2355 7651, e-mail: roro@inet.polyu.edu.hk) for further information.

# Applicants should settle the application fee in the form of a cheque issued by any bank in Hong Kong or a bank draft payable to “The Hong Kong Polytechnic University”. On the back of the cheque/bank draft, they should write down their names in block letters and send it to the faculty member together with the application materials.

The results will be announced in March 2008. Successful applicants will be notified of the details of offer individually.

VIA: official announcement